One is the Loneliest Number
by Asynca
Summary: Jaina Proudmoore finds an unlikely friendship in Alleria Windrunner - her first in a long, long time.


The Wind's Redemption was, as ships went, not particularly impressive. It was functional, sturdy and built to be a lasting multi-purpose war carrier, but it wasn't remarkable in any way. At least, not compared to the Kul Tiran fleet, and not to a Kul Tiran Admiral.

It did house some of the Alliance's best warriors, though. And, on this fine afternoon, a number of them were taking advantage of a rare late-autumn warm snap to spill out onto the docks, practice their drills and test one another's mettle.

Jaina had come to the docks to meet one of the captains of her fleet and be shown around his ship, but because of the still weather his fleet was running very late and wasn't expected for several more hours. Rather than go home simply to return later, Jaina thought she should probably spend some time renewing her acquaintance with the denizens of the Wind's Redemption.

She'd shaken a few hands and exchange a few pleasantries and was wandering up the docks amongst all the soldiers preparing to sale off to new warfronts, when she noticed a small competition that was unfolding between two of them a little further up the docks. She recognised the pair.

Shandris Feathermoon and Alleria Windrunner were shooting targets together—and not stationary targets, either. One of the soldiers was throwing objects into the air for them to shoot. Being the frighteningly good archers they were, their competition wasn't about who could shoot the target: it was how many arrows each of them could get into the target before it hit the ground. Shandris was winning, but Alleria was certainly putting up a fight.

It was truly a sight to behold; Jaina immediately abandoned circulating and sat quietly nearby to watch. Perhaps the Alliance ships weren't much compared to the Kul Tiran fleets, but there wasn't a single Kul Tiran on this island who could shoot like an elven archer.

The two of them were in step with each other for several rounds (although Shandris had the look of someone going for a leisurely stroll in the park whilst Alleria was very clearly extending herself), and eventually, Alleria missed a shot completely. It sailed through the air far into the distance and disappeared forever into the dark harbour. She swore under her breath and shook out what must have been an aching arm. "I think I'll concede before I injure myself," she said good-naturedly, and shook hands with Shandris. "It's been an honour to measure myself against you, even if I fall short."

Shandris returned her firm handshake. "You shoot well, sister," she said with a grin. "And I think you'll find high elves are _always_ rather short when compared with me."

Alleria gave her a tired look. "Don't start," she said dryly, but it was clearly in good humour.

Jaina had thought herself an unseen spectator, but after their handshake finished, Alleria turned towards her and acknowledged her with a respectful, "Lady Proudmoore."

Shandris didn't seem surprised, either. "Or 'Lord Admiral', is it now?"

Jaina pushed herself to stand, approaching them. " _Please_ ," she said. "Jaina is fine, unless you'd have me call you both 'General Feathermoon' and 'Lady Windrunner'."

Alleria grimaced. "I find myself less and less fond of hearing my family name," she admitted. "Anyway, I apologise for ending the show early. I imagine you were just as impressed as I, watching Shandris in action."

"I was," Jaina agreed. "Watching you both, in fact."

Alleria gave her a warm smile—but it was short-lived. They always were, with Alleria. "Do you shoot, yourself?"

Jaina laughed. "If you mean magic missiles, yes!" she said. "I'm embarrassingly bad with weapons, and I think Shandris' bow might be as tall as I am."

Entertained by that suggestion, Shandris held her bow upright beside Jaina for them all to consider. It was only was fractionally shorter than she was tall, and the wood was a thick as Jaina's arm. "I think I might break something it I tried to pull that," she confessed.

"Mine might be easier for you," Alleria suggested, and passed it to her.

Jaina only took it to be social; she'd never had any sort of interest in archery. However, as soon as she wrapped her fingers around the limb of it, she discovered the bow might be more suited to her interests than initially thought. It hummed with magic; _dark_ magic. For all it appeared like an ordinary elven bow, Jaina could feel its tendrils stroking at her skin as she held it. _Fascinating,_ she thought, completely enamoured with it.

Alleria mistook her interest in it to be for archery. "Here," she said, stepping in towards Jaina. "Let me show you."

Not wanting to correct her, Jaina let Alleria position her arms and hands and place an arrow in them. Then, she even let Alleria guide her to fire a few of them vaguely towards the target (awfully, she had no power in her arms whatsoever), before she lowered the bow. "I'm a lost cause," she said with a smile, intending to end the archery lesson and perhaps ask some questions about the bow.

Once again, Alleria misunderstood her, thinking her self-depreciative comment was fishing for encouragement. Giving Jaina another short smile, she dismissed Jaina's assessment with a shake of her head. "You'll get the hang of it," she promised, and then gestured for Jaina to raise the bow. "Come on, let's try a few more."

Again, Jaina didn't really want to say no, and as she was in no real hurry, there seemed to be no reason to refuse. Alleria clearly enjoyed teaching her, and—well, it wasn't an unpleasant way to spend part of an afternoon, even if Shandris had crept off at some point and left the two of them alone. Alleria was quiet and unassuming, and Jaina found her clear dislike of small talk refreshing. Furthermore, the more time Jaina spent with the bow, the more she was interested in its power.

With Alleria guiding her aim, she probed the bow experimentally with her own magic and—to her surprise—she managed to fire a dark, ethereal arrow somewhat towards the target. It dissolved in the air before it struck.

Alleria stood back a moment, a little stunned. "It took me decades to learn to do that," she confessed after she'd caught her breath. "Honestly, that was remarkable."

Jaina wasn't quite as impressed with herself. "It would have been far more remarkable if I'd come even close to hitting the target," she pointed out. "It would take _me_ decades to be able to do that."

Alleria closed her jaw and shook her head. "Under my tutelage, it'll take you a day," she promised, and then stepped in against Jaina again. "Here. Practice makes perfect."

 _I really need to tell her just how little I care for archery_ , Jaina reflected, saying nothing of the sort and allowing Alleria to layer her hands over hers on the bow again. Instead, she steered the topic away from the position of her shoulders and towards something she was interested in. "Did you make it yourself?" she asked. "The bow, I mean?"

"No. This bow has been in my family for generations."

Oh. She looked towards Alleria. "The magic, then? That's yours?"

Alleria nodded once. "Eyes forward," she said gently. After Jaina had fired another two or three arrows, she added, "In all honesty, I often wonder what my mother would think of me imbuing the bow in this manner."

Jaina couldn't imagine she'd be anything but delighted. "I'm sure she'd be terribly proud of her brave daughter for playing such a large role in saving Azeroth from the Legion, no matter her method."

Alleria chuckled—such a rare sound, from her. "That's kind of you to say, Jaina." There was a note of doubt in her voice; she obviously didn't believe that assessment.

Jaina wanted to ask about it, but she thought better of prying. It was bizarre, though: how anyone could be anything but so fiercely proud of daughter like Alleria was completely beyond her. "I'm sure in time the people disapprove of void magic will come to see it as just another school of magic: with the potential to be dangerous, but a powerful weapon for good in the right hands."

Alleria's response was very measured. "I hope you are right," she said, "as that is very much what I have come to understand." Again, Jaina fired another few practice arrows in silence before Alleria added, "Perhaps you would have more luck than I in convincing Turalyon of that."

Jaina paused before she nocked another arrow. There was—quite a great deal to unpack in that. She hadn't thought much of the fact Turalyon and Alleria had not spent any time together at all in Boralus; after all, they both had duties that were important to them and she herself had always been similarly independent in relationships. It seemed significant to her now, though.

Lowering the bow, she turned a little towards Alleria. "Would you like me to try and convince him?" she asked, meaning it as a genuine offer. "We're not well acquainted, but I'm sure the fact I'm close to Anduin would mean something to him. He _is_ a paladin, after all."

Alleria opened her mouth, presumably to immediately refuse, but then thought better of than and closed it again. She spent a moment in thought, idly fiddling with the feathered tips of the last few arrows in her quiver. In the end, her shoulders slumped a little. "Thank you for offering," she said, looking up meaningfully at Jaina as she spoke. "But, if I may be so honest, I've long since given up with him."

Jaina's heart sank; Alleria didn't just mean in relation to her void magic. Reflexively, she reached out and put a reassuring hand on Alleria's arm. "I'm so sorry to hear that." Alleria's comment reminded her of the last couple of years with Kalec; she had known in her heart it wasn't going to work, but at the same time hadn't wanted to let him go.

Alleria looked down at the ground between them. "It's alright. I've been hearing the death rattle for a long time, now. After all—what can we really expect? He abhors what I have become, and openly tells me so. That, in addition to the fact we no longer touch and haven't for more than five hundred years, leaves little else. We had a shared cause in the demise of the Legion, but…" She exhaled. "But now? Even our son writes to us separately."

Jaina gently squeezed Alleria's arm, feeling a little lost for words. She rarely had to comfort people. She eventually settled on speaking of herself, hoping Alleria would find comfort in her experiences. "I left my partner recently—somewhat recently, anyway," she corrected herself. "I thought I would completely fall apart without him."

Alleria considered her. "And yet?"

"And yet, I haven't been this well in years." She realised how that sounded. "Not just because of leaving Kalec—it was part of a series of events that fell into place for me. I made the right decision with him, though," she said. "Kalec was hugely important to me in a very difficult part of my life, but I'm someone else now. I need different things in a partner than I used to."

Alleria was thoughtful for a moment. "That is a feeling I know well," she confessed, and put a hand over Jaina's on her arm. Her skin was warm through Jaina's glove. "Thank you," she said more quietly. "You're being very generous with me about yourself even though we hardly know one another."

It was an interesting observation. Jaina wasn't sure herself why, because she certainly wasn't particularly given to sharing secrets even with people she'd known for years. "I suppose I've read a lot about the brave hero Alleria Windrunner, so perhaps I feel as if I know you?"

Alleria looked entertained by that suggestion. "Oh dear," she said. "I must warn you then that I'm not like in the stories. In fact, I believe 'horribly boring' was the most recent description I've heard from someone who actually knows me."

That sounded like something Vereesa would say. Jaina wondered if it was. "Aren't we all, though? The moment I get any time to myself, all I do is read books alone from dawn until dusk," she said, and then leant towards Alleria as if to impart a dirty secret. "Sometimes I even go wild and read _outside._ "

That drew a wry chuckle from Alleria. "My sisters used to tease me about how much I'd rather read than play with them."

Jaina couldn't help warming to her, she was so different from her sister—they even _looked_ different. Jaina had enjoyed Vereesa's company especially in the months after Theramore, but there was always something very young about her. She was fiery, obstinate, and prone to public outbursts.

In contrast, Alleria was well-considered, measured and deliberate. She struck Jaina as someone who thought deeply, and that was an attribute Jaina very much liked in people, and one she was trying to cultivate in herself. She felt that Alleria might have rather a lot to teach her—even if archery wasn't one of the skills Jaina wanted. She glanced down at the forgotten bow in her hand.

Alleria noticed and sighed. "I'm sorry," she said, taking the bow from Jaina and stepping back. "You don't enjoy archery as much as I, do you?" There was a note of disappointment in her voice that tugged at Jaina's heartstrings.

She couldn't lie to her, though, so she grimaced. "I'm afraid I don't." As Alleria's ears fell a little, she quickly added, "But the company is certainly most agreeable."

Alleria gave her somewhat of a tired look. There was a ghost of a smile on her face, though. "Even if 'the company' insists on spilling all the secrets of her dying relationship with you while she teaches you a skill you've no interest in?"

Jaina scoffed. "I participated in the spilling, if you recall," she reminded Alleria, but found the second half of what Alleria said to be most interesting. If she'd had been aware Jaina wasn't interested, why had she insisted on trying to get Jaina to participate?

Before Jaina had even finished asked herself that, she'd answered it: Alleria had been alone in a relationship with someone who didn't accept her for hundreds of years. The way she spoke about it, Jaina was sure she was the first to hear most of it, even if they hardly knew each other.

 _She must be so lonely_ , Jaina realised, intimately knowing that feeling and wanting to encircle her in a big, warm hug as a result. However, Alleria's body language didn't give the impression that she welcomed hugs—and Jaina wasn't particularly given to doling them out to people she didn't know very well, especially not in public.

She had another idea, though. Unclipping her pauldron, she placed it on the ground beside her. "I'll admit I have no interest in ordinary arrows," she said. "But I _am_ interested in those ethereal arrows the bow was producing earlier. Could you show me how to create more of those? I haven't come across a bow imbued with void magic before."

Alleria's expression waived; she looked as if she didn't want to accept the invitation. "I hope you're not just indulging me."

Jaina beckoned her to step closer. "I'm not," she promised, even if it was a half-truth.

Tentatively, Alleria let herself be invited towards Jaina again and placed the bow back into her hand. Without Jaina's pauldron, it was easier for Alleria to stand close to her as she held the bow up.

It wasn't long before Jaina could feel her relax. That relaxed her too, and with Alleria's arm along hers and the warmth between them signalling how close they were standing, it was hard for Jaina to not lean back against her into that hug she felt Alleria probably needed.

Down her arm, she could see Alleria's fingers reach up and layer over hers, moving her grip ever so slightly on the bow. There was nothing intimate about it, really—no one watching would think twice about what was after all just an archery lesson—but to Jaina, it felt intimate. It felt especially intimate because of the conversation they'd just had. People didn't often choose Jaina to confess things to.

In fact, come to think of it, the only close friends Jaina had ever had were men she'd ended up in relationships with. She'd always longed for a female best friend. Many a summer's afternoon had been spent sitting in Dalaran's beautiful parks reading, and she'd often see women walking arm-in-arm together, shopping, chatting, and keeping each other company. How she'd always longed to be one-half of a pair like that. Somehow, even though she was nearly 40, she'd never managed it.

For a moment, she imagined walking arm-in-arm with Alleria along the Boralus docks, perhaps discussing the Alliance war efforts, or—no. Jaina dismissed that idea. There was nothing special about discussing war efforts or strategy. Perhaps Alleria would tell her more about how hard it had been on Argus, and Jaina would tell her about Theramore and the aftermath? Alleria seemed like she'd be such a good listener.

Alleria may have been a good listener, but Jaina felt she herself was doing a terrible job at it during their lesson. She was interested at first—Alleria had been talking about the magic in the bow—but after they'd returned to working on Jaina's aim, she was only able to feign interest for a time. Eventually, she had to concede she'd probably met her limit of weapons training for the day, and they stepped away from each other.

To Jaina's delight, though, Alleria didn't immediately retrieve her arrows and get back to her training. Instead, they stood opposite each other for a moment, reluctant to leave.

"Thank you for the lesson," Jaina managed eventually, realising that she'd never said as much.

Alleria dismissed that with a gesture. "Thank you for listening," she said, complimenting Jaina more than she realised she had.

Jaina hoped Alleria would give her the chance to again. "Anytime," she said, trying to give enough weight to the word for Alleria to understand it wasn't just a platitude.

She seemed to. "Careful what you offer," she said wryly. "I have three thousand years' worth of things to complain about."

"Well, I'm very bad at archery," Jaina pointed out. "It may take three thousand years' worth of stories to get me to a point where I can hit a target."

Alleria laughed at that—such a gentle sound from deep in her throat. Jaina found it so pleasant to listen to that she was almost disappointed when it ended and Alleria spoke. "Well, we don't ship out for another week. If you'd like to come past the docks tomorrow, we can start at chapter one: my idyllic childhood and how it has been all downhill from there."

Jaina's smile threatened to strain her cheeks. "Funny, that sounds exactly like chapter one of _my_ life story."

When they'd hammered out the details of meeting again and were on the cusp of finally saying goodbye to each other and parting, Alleria stopped Jaina and took her hand.

Jaina let her of course, confused about what was happening (and perhaps a little excited?), expecting Alleria to slip their fingers together. If it were even possible, she did even better: she pressed her bow into Jaina's palm. "Here," she said, closing Jaina's fingers around it with her own. "I won't use it before tomorrow, and I've seen how you look at it. Take it and… play with it, or run experiments on it, or whatever it is that mages do. You can bring it back to me tomorrow."

Jaina instantly recalled Alleria's comment about the bow having been in her family for generations, and understood the weight of trust Alleria had just placed in her. "Thank you," she said, and the words came from her heart. "I'll be very careful."

Alleria gave her another understated smile. "I know you will," she said simply, looking meaningfully at her for a moment before she bid her farewell and went to collect all the arrows they'd scattered everywhere during their lesson.

Jaina would ordinarily have helped, but Alleria had given her absolutely no indication she required it of her. Besides, Jaina thought that if she didn't leave now she might never manage to.

Feeling very much that if the bow had been smaller she might have immediately slipped it on one of her fingers or hung it on a chain around her neck that she'd never take off, Jaina instead slung it around her chest and across her back as she'd seen archers do in field. Unfortunately, that made it difficult for her to skip all the way to where she'd agreed to meet the captain. It was probably for the best, though: people didn't need to know Jaina was on the cusp of making her first female best friend at the ripe old age of nearly 37.

Sitting on the docks and swinging her legs, Jaina faced the horizon and settled down to wait, her head full of bright daydreams of her and Alleria walking arm-in-arm through Boralus.


End file.
